6 years agoIn his first season in Pittsburgh, Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson was a pleasant surprise with his .300/.330/.474 slash line, but where he came up short for fantasy owners was in the counting stats. He totaled just 13 home runs in 135 games after slugging 51 long balls the previous two seasons in Tampa. He'll turn 30 at the end of May and should once again have an everyday role as the starting left fielder. However, despite a decent career average against southpaws (.272), only 10 of his 103 career homers have come against them, so he will be rested from time to time with a lefty on the mound. The former eighth-round pick of the Rockies dramatically increased his hit tool last year and evolved as a hitter, as evidenced by his drop in strikeout rate from just over 24 percent in his two seasons with the Rays to 15.0 percent last year. Basically, he sacrificed power for more contact. Dickerson was one of the worst hitters against elevated fastballs in 2017. He turned that around and made an adjustment in 2018, making contact 80.4 percent of the time. His swinging-strike rate also dropped to 11.6 percent, his lowest since 2014. Dickerson could approach the 20-homer mark again with more at-bats if he maintains his improvements as a more complete hitter. He's worth grabbing in the late rounds as an undervalued fourth or fifth outfielder after he disappointed in the power department a year ago.--Keith Hernandez - RotoBaller